Toxics-Free Environments and Environmental Health

Creating a Safer and Healthier World for Our Families As parents, we want to make sure our children grow up in safe and healthy environments. That's why MomsRising is part of a growing movement of workers, scientists, health experts, and advocates working to clean up the world our kids are growing up in. We're calling for updated chemical regulations so that chemicals are proven to be safe before they are out on the market and in items our families are exposed to daily. We’re calling for cleaner air to reduce the epidemic of respiratory illnesses such as asthma and to help resist the advancement of climate change.

Restrict Use of Toxic Chemicals The Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 (TSCA) grandfathered in 62,000 chemicals. Since then, the EPA has required testing of less than one percent of the chemicals in commerce. Today, more than 80,000 chemicals are on the market, with only five ever having been restricted due to safety concerns. Our broken regulatory system leaves families exposed to countless toxic chemicals every day, chemicals that may put us and our families at risk for cancer, learning disabilities, infertility and more. MomsRising is raising the voices of mothers who are calling for meaningful reform of federal toxics legislation, calling on manufacturers to stop putting dangerous chemicals in the production of consumer goods, and urging retailers to remove toxic consumer goods from store shelves.

Protect Clean Air and Fight Climate Change Contaminated air impacts our children’s health today and threatens their future. Pollutants, like nitrogen dioxide, acid vapors and particulate matter (soot), from a variety of sources ranging from cars and boilers to power plant, can stunt growing lungs, and mercury has been found to impair neurological development in children. The accumulation of man-made greenhouse gases like carbon and methane are the underlying cause of climate change, which is changing life patterns on earth and giving rise to extreme weather events like Hurricane Katrina. MomsRising urges regulation of air pollutants as mandated by the 1972 Clean Air Act to improve public health effects as well as to resist the progress of climate change.

Environmental Justice All families deserve toxics-free, healthful surroundings, but the reality is that families of color are at much greater risk of harm from environmental pollutants. Waste sites and contaminated water, as well as power plants, highways and other sources of high pollution, are more often found near African-American, Latino, and other working-class neighborhoods. That’s why these communities disproportionately suffer negative health impacts from exposure to contaminated environments. For example, dirty air contributes to the growing epidemic of childhood asthma, but African-American children are 20% more likely to have asthma than non-Hispanic Whites, while one in five Puerto Rican children under age 18 have asthma, compared to nearly one in ten (9%) Hispanic children overall and one in 13 (7.9%) White children. MomsRising works to build awareness of environmental injustice and fights for clean environments for all.

Moms Blogging on Toxics and Environmental Health

A recent deal between Coca-Cola and Monster Energy reinforces some common challenges that parents face every day: How do we protect our children from companies that spend so much time coming up with new ways to sell things to our children? How do we keep our children healthy when billions are spent every year marketing [...]

There are two names for H.R. 1599: The Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act of 2015 and the Deny Americans the Right to Know (DARK) Act. There’s no doubt in my mind which is the more accurate. The proposed law would do nothing to make our food safer and would prevent families from getting more accurate [...]

By Michael Anderson The Housing Trust Fund Project team spent much of the last week of June in Los Angeles and stayed at a hotel directly adjacent to Skid Row. Each team member was profoundly impacted by the experience. If you have not been to Skid Row, it is hard to describe. There are so [...]

Across the country, consumers are standing up for public health by speaking out against the overuse of antibiotics in factory farming and as a result, the industry is changing. The following fast-casual restaurants have taken action to transition away from serving meat raised with antibiotics. By supporting restaurants with strong antibiotic free policies, we can [...]